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Rick Snyder surely doesn't mean to suggest any parity or parallel between the Great Wall and two Great Lakes attractions, we assume.
Gov. Rick Snyder climbs the Great Wall of China in Mutianyu on Sunday with David Lorenz of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. (State of Michigan photo)
After all, the wonder of the world he visited Sunday is a 13,000-mile manmade marvel. A pair of Michigan sites he mentions in the same context are nifty natural features.
So this quote Monday in a state posting must be just a reflexive boast as the governor promotes Michigan tourism, along with investment and trade opportunities:
“The Great Wall is simply fascinating. . . . It’s known around the globe. And Michigan also offers amazing opportunities for tourists like Pictured Rocks and Sleeping Bear Dunes."
That may be tough to translate into Mandarin without coming off as a bit . . . how to say this tactfully . . . provincial or presumptuous.
Don't get us wrong -- the Lansing delegation's eight-day trip, which ends Saturday, is smart outreach. We're just not sure that bragging about lakeside sand piles and colorful cliffs is appropriate immediately after walking along the mid-6th Century wall at Mutianyu, one of the best-preserved parts.
That seems like saying Ming Dynasty ceramics and the Terracotta Army are "simply fascinating" before adding: "And Michigan also offers amazing opportunities for tourists like Pewabic Pottery and Gothic Armor at Detroit's art museum."
True, but hardly equivalent.
